The first round of the 2021 Snooker Grand Prix is all over, with Selby beating Mark Allen in the two second-round matches that ended earlier, Robertson easily advancing, while title-winning favourite Trump was eliminated by Tom Ford.
The most anticipated by fans is Ronnie O'Sullivan's showdown against Hussein Waffi, and although both of them won the first round to qualify, O'Sullivan seemed to be struggling compared to Waffy's easy win.
Since the beginning of this season, O'Sullivan's state and mood have always been the focus of attention from the outside world, he can go all the way to the final, or he can willfully give up the victory and choose a round trip, so the biggest opponent for O'Sullivan may be himself.
And Walifi's performance this season can be described as very eye-catching, the player from Iran has many times to beat the top 16 players of the excellent play, before the start of the game fans are also blunt, if O'Sullivan can not adjust the mentality then there is a high probability of passing the pass of Wafi.
Interestingly, the most recent meeting between the two sides was in the recent German Masters qualifiers, when O'Sullivan did not pay any attention to the game, and there was some wayward action of kicking off, and finally lost to Wafi 0:5, which was also a revenge battle for O'Sullivan.
At the beginning of the game, both sides failed to enter the state in time, and O'Sullivan even had frequent problems with the simple position, along with Wafi's luck to make snooker, O'Sullivan also announced the end of the game Waffi 1:0 to get the opening red.
In the second set, O'Sullivan's defensive leaked the ball and Waffi scored on the bench, but then there was a mistake, but O'Sullivan also made a mistake in the process of establishing the lead, and after a defensive match between the two, Wafi took the lead in leaking the ball, and O'Sullivan finally equalized the score several times.
In the next set, although both of them got the mobile phone through the long stage, they could not form a continuous attack, but O'Sullivan felt warm in the second half of the hand and struggled to complete the super point in the face of a complicated situation, and staged a wonderful defense when Wafi came on stage to try snooker, and Wafi had no choice but to concede defeat to 2:1.
Waffi still failed to find his best form afterwards, while O'Sullivan played more and more smoothly, and after firing the first shot of the game, he also took the lead in reaching the match point. In the last set, Wafi was also "confused" by the sudden return of O'Sullivan, and after a mistake, O'Sullivan was never given a chance to play, and finally O'Sullivan exploded 80+ to win 4:1 to advance.
Throughout the matchup, Waffi did not know whether he could not play at the level he should have in his previous few games because of some nervousness against O'Sullivan, and finally regretted that he was out. O'Sullivan also played a torturous game in the first few sets, but adjusted back to his own feel in time as the game progressed.
Objectively speaking, O'Sullivan's current ups and downs will be eliminated if he encounters other strong players, and the road to winning the championship is a long way to go. Of course, as a fan, I still hope that O'Sullivan can correct his attitude and continue to impact his first title of the season in the next game.